The present invention relates generally to network switches, and more particularly, to a multi-service network switch capable of emulating multiple routers within the single switch.
Today""s network service providers face extraordinary challenges. Traffic levels are rapidly increasing. Both consumers and corporations are demanding higher access rates and staying on the Internet longer while looking for predictable performance and stringent service-level guarantees. This puts direct demands on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide larger capacity and higher speed at their point of presence (POP) locations, preferably without compromising performance.
Just to maintain acceptable performance, service providers are adding support for more users, more traffic, and more transactions, preferably without introducing bottlenecks or compromising network availability. Many network-based business transactions are time-critical and typically cannot tolerate undue delay or disruption.
In addition to the challenge of growing traffic levels is the challenge of growing diversity of network technology. Users may access the public infrastructure, for example, over dial-up connections, ISDN links, leased lines, frame relays, and ATM virtual circuits. They may use voice-grade modems, cable modems, a variety of xDSL modems, or other modems. Within the infrastructure, a service provider""s POP may attach to the core network and to other devices in the POP using, for example, ATM, frame relay, or Ethernet.
Supporting each type of network technology in a traditional manner means that the ISPs typically add separate access servers, access routers, and/or stand alone LAN switches, generally resulting in an increase in cost and management complexities for the ISP.
While delivering reliable, responsible services, service providers must also simultaneously build revenue and cut costs, without sacrificing service quality. To succeed, service providers generally need management simplification and economies of scale so that per-user expenses drop as the number of users rises. Service providers also need new, value-added services that differentiate them from the competition, take them into new markets, and boost revenue from existing customers.
One of the value-added services that service providers may provide to differentiate themselves from their competitors is corporate outsourcing and dial network wholesaling. With corporate outsourcing, a corporation outsources its WAN network to third party service providers for remote user access to the company""s Intranet. With dial network wholesaling, a service provider resells its ports to other service providers. Because the success of corporate outsourcing and dial network wholesaling are generally highly dependent on security, the service provider traditionally purchases a separate POP for each outsourced network or reselling service provider.
Accordingly, there is a need for a network switch capable of providing fault-tolerant and efficient services that will accommodate the increase in the number and the variety of network traffic. It is also desirable to have a system and a method for a private, secure environment for multiple sharing subscribers without the addition of a separate POP per subscriber.
The present invention is directed to a multi-service network switch capable of providing multiple services including modem and ISDN services, frame relay support, LAN interfaces, and layer-2 and layer-3 switching, from a single platform. According to one embodiment of the invention, the switch supports dial network wholesaling where dial ports are resold to other ISPs, by partitioning the switch into multiple virtual routers. Each virtual router preferably has its own set of resources (e.g. ISDN or modem resources) and a routing table proprietary to the virtual router. Each virtual router therefore preferably functions as a separate router in an independent and self-contained manner.
According to one aspect of the invention, the switch creates a plurality of virtual routers with a unique virtual router identifier, and allocates resources to each of them. The allocated resources are proprietary to each virtual router. In addition, the switch creates for each virtual router a routing table and an IP interface, and enables them for receiving and forwarding user traffic.
According to another aspect of the invention, each virtual router is partitioned into virtual private networks for further controlling access to the network. A virtual private network is created via filters where each filter is associated with a filtering criteria and an action to be taken upon a match of the filtering criteria by a block of data directed to the virtual router.